Method and device for hard drive shock event detection

Abstract

A method and system for sensing the current applied to the motor of a data storage device and determining whether a shock event has occurred by processing the sensed current levels.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A system comprising:
 a spindle motor that rotates a computer readable medium; 
 a driver that provides a drive current to the spindle motor for driving the spindle motor to rotate the computer readable medium; 
 a sensor that:
 receives the drive current for driving the spindle motor from the driver; and 
 provides an output signal based on the received drive current; and 
 
 a processor that processes the output signal for detecting a shock event. 
 
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the driver provides the drive current to the spindle motor for rotating the spindle motor. 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 2 , wherein rotation of the spindle motor rotates the computer readable medium. 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor monitors the received drive current, and wherein the sensor provides the output signal based on the monitored drive current. 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor processes the output signal by determining whether the output signal is one of equal to and greater than a threshold level corresponding to the shock event. 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a data store that stores a library of known threshold levels, wherein each threshold level of the known threshold levels corresponds to a respective shock event of a known intensity, and an intensity of the detected shock event is determined by comparing the output signal to one or more of the known threshold levels. 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the sensor receives the drive current from the driver over a first period of time and provides the output signal as a plurality of output signals over a second period of time. 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 7 , wherein the processor processes the plurality of output signals for detecting the shock event. 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 8 , wherein the processor determines a change in a level between at least two of the plurality of output signals for detecting the shock event. 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the processor detects the shock event by determining whether the change in the level is one of equal to and greater than a threshold level corresponding to the shock event. 
     
     
       11. A method comprising:
 providing a drive current from a driver; 
 receiving the drive current from the driver at a spindle motor 
 driving the spindle motor to rotate a computer readable medium using the drive current received at the spindle motor; 
 receiving the drive current from the driver at a sensor; 
 generating an output signal with the sensor based on the drive current received at the sensor; 
 receiving the output signal from the sensor at a processor; 
 processing the received output signal with the processor; and 
 detecting a shock event based on the processing. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the driving the spindle motor comprises rotating the spindle motor, and wherein the rotating the spindle motor rotates the computer readable medium coupled to the spindle motor. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the processing comprises comparing the received output signal with at least one value of a plurality of values stored in a table that is accessible by the processor. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 13 , wherein each value of the plurality of values is associated with a known shock intensity, and an intensity of the detected shock event is determined by comparing the received output signal with at least one value of the plurality of values. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 13 , wherein the table is associated with a characteristic of the spindle motor. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the receiving the drive current from the driver at the sensor comprises receiving the drive current from the driver at the sensor over a first period of time, and wherein the generating the output signal comprises generating a plurality of output signals with the sensor over a second period of time based on the drive current received at the sensor over the first period of time. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the receiving the output signal from the sensor at the processor comprises receiving the plurality of output signals; and 
 the processing the received output signal with the processor comprises processing the plurality of received output signals with the processor. 
 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 17 , wherein the processing comprises determining a change in a level between at least two of the plurality of received output signals. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 18 , wherein the detecting the shock event comprises determining whether the change in the level is one of equal to and greater than a threshold level corresponding to the shock event. 
     
     
       20. Non-transitory computer-readable media for controlling an electronic device, comprising computer-readable code recorded thereon for:
 providing a drive current from a driver to a spindle motor that rotates a storage disk; 
 receiving the drive current from the driver with a sensor; 
 providing an output signal based on the received drive current from the sensor to a processor; 
 processing the output signal with the processor; and 
 detecting a shock event based on the processing.